Dentist explains worrying reason why smokers and vapers could have gum disease without even realising

A top dentist has spoken about the effects of gum disease and the shocking link between oral health and the rest of the body.

That's a thought that some of us perhaps didn't think about - as making sure to brush your teeth isn't just about getting them whiter.

Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, Dr Victoria Sampson explained the vast link between oral hygiene and other health conditions, and the worrying reason why those who smoke and vape may not realise they're suffering with gum disease.

Discussing the risk factors, Dr Sampson explained that smokers and vapers are more likely to see gum disease go unnoticed.

This is because a lot of smokers do not suffer from bleeding gums, which is one of the biggest signs of the condition.

"Smoking and vaping, neither are good for oral microbiome. It goes back to dry mouth. Smoking dries your mouth out and then you don't have the saliva and the saliva can't do what it wants to," said Dr Sampson.

"It stops blood flow to your mouth. So a lot of smokers don't have bleeding gums, it doesn't mean they don't have gum disease, but because they are smoking so much the blood vessels are already tightly constricted from the nicotine. So they don't get bleeding gums.

"We know that smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for gum disease."

Dr Sampson went on to explain how the early warning signs of gum disease - such as bleeding gums - should never be ignored as it can worsen and lead to other health conditions, including erectile dysfunction.

"Men who have [gum] disease are 2.8 times more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction," Dr Sampson told Bartlett.

"The early stages of gum disease is gum inflammation, so the patient who's brushing their teeth, spits in the basin and sees blood... if they don't get that checked out and sorted, that will just continue and continue and continue to gum disease which is yes, where you've got inflammation, but actually you have really high levels of bad bacteria.

"This bacteria is essentially eating away at the gums and your bone and it's now become irreversible.

"At the very end of the spectrum is people who are losing their teeth, having really terrible gum infections and all of these mouth-body connections that we're talking about."

When asked how exactly gum disease can lead to erectile dysfunction, Dr Sampson added: "It essentially stops your blood vessels from dilating so you've got reduced blood flow to your penis and therefore [it] doesn't work."

It's not the first time the link between vaping, smoking and sexual health has been explored.

In fact, research has found that men who vape every day were twice as likely to experience erectile dysfunction, meanwhile those who smoked regular cigarettes prior to vaping have an even higher risk.

“In one study of over 13,000 men, about 4.8 percent reported e-cigarette use and were more than twice as likely to report erectile dysfunction,” urologist Nannan Thirumavalavan told University Hospitals in 2022.

“The risk of ED is even higher for men who formerly smoked regular cigarettes before switching to vaping. This relationship holds true regardless of age and other risk factors, including cardiovascular disease.”